eadin
oge he
HISTORYIIS ORDINARY PEOPLE
Parent can do much to help youn people gain a real appre­
ciation for hi ory by aring colorful orie of the past.
Stori from th live of ordinary people help to make history
real, _
Julius Le er, uthor of numerou boo and an uthority
on rican American history, h taken documented account
of the li of ave and ex- ave and turned them into movin
ories from hi ory. Long Journey Home (Dial 1972 , i
collection of short 0' bout people who were m ing an
ffort to define their own live, affirm their own dignity, and
their own liber tion. .
The fir ory in the collection, � Satan On My Track,"
is bout a blue linger who choo to take hi chance on the
ro d 'th hi guitar rat er than become trapped into the
ery of arecropping, He finds th t he must make me
hard deci 'on, however, the sh clde which would make
him ave ain come in variou disgui
other ory, "Louis," tells of a young teen- ed slave who
ddenly found th t there wa no one in the orId who wa
ing to think for him. T ing his de iny in his own hands,
�e de the cour eou deci 'on to try to be free.
• n" is the character portrait of ave ho had the re on-
lbility of running a Kentuc y plantation. Though the 0 ner
dmired Ben' ability to manage the plantation, he under­
e imated Ben' ability to manage an e pe to freedom,
'The Man Who Was a Horse" is a f cinating story of a
Bl c cowboy to hom freedom meant nothing more than
the gift of being hnnself.
"When Freedom Came" tell of a man who family had
been sold away from him during very, Though he h d no
'de a where hi family w when freedom came, his fir t move
as a free man as to set out on the road to 100 for them,
This i ory which could ell serve a required preface to
any tudy of the Black family in America today.
In the title ory, "Long Journey Home," a woman retell
the ory of the slave experience a told to her by her mother
and grandmother. Since both women ere determined that
no one could force them to enjoy being slaves, they were con-
idered slave ith "a bad ttitude." Thi ' an interesting
ccount of personal rebellion and re' ance.
The people in the ories are real a uncles and cousin
and next-door neighbor , breathing life int the p t and bringing
personal significance to history' which could nev r come
from the page of a textbook,
Benton Harbor
Ca I all to D.C.
rally or peace, jus
Dear Southern Africa! Anti-
Apartheid Activist,
e are issuing this ecial
'appeal to you to join us in an
historic mobilization for Justice
and Peace in Central America
and Southern Africa on April
25, 1987, in ashington D. ,
U.S, policie to ard the re­
gion are morally and politi ally
wrong and mu be topped.
It is e cially important
th t the anti-apartheid move­
ment participates in this call to
ction. The movement in
lida ty with the struggles of
the people of Southern Africa
is at the highe that it has ever
been in the U.S. We mu t t e
advantage of this heightened
awarene and concentrate th t
support into concrete actions
and activities that advance our
movement.
We have joined with other
to mobilize thousands to ash­
ington on April 25-27th for a
rally and other related events
that d mon rat our determina­
tion to chang current and
historic U.S. policy to ard
Central America and Southern
Africa. In addi 'on to the rally
and march urday, pril
25th, there will be an Interfaith
Worship Service on Sunday,
April 26th, and non-violent civil
disobedience and congressional
lobbying on Mond y, April
27th.
We a you to join us in
the efforts for several reasons.
First, the eyes of the country,
indeed the orId, will be on us
in Washington and it is criti­
cally important that we have as
large turnout as possible to
demon rate the size and range
of oppositi n to the policies
of the Reagan administration
and it allie
Second we can and mu 1
bring to the nati nal political
st ge " the i ue and policy
concerns that are on our agenda
for at least the re of Reagan's
term of offic. This include
stopping aid to IT and
the R, halting U.S. govern­
ment and corporate upport
for apartheid, imposing compre­
hensive and mandatory sanctions
on the apartheid government,
ob taining financial and security
a istance for SADCC and the
independence of amibia to
name a few.
Third, the involvement of
the broades ctions of the
religious and labor movement
illustrates the depth of con­
cern that has grown in thi
country to di s ciate from the
politic of appea ment to apar­
theid. The building of a uc­
ce ul rally ill strengthen
the anti-apartheid movement.
Linking the struggles for
freedom in Southern Afrie
and Central Americ as ell
as linking the issues to other
concerns such as domestic
racism is a positive sign of
growth for our movement. e
mu take advantage of this
opportunity to mobilize and
organize in constituencies that
have previously not fully part i-
•
ce
cipated in our movement.
gain we you to join
and upport u in thi endeavor.
or with local coalition that
are organizing to come to
ashington D., for these
activities. Help distribute leaf­
let and literature ann
the dem nstration.
ner and igns to carr
march.
En 10 d you ill find a py
of the all and an organiz tion
endorsement form. F r more
informati n on ho t get
involved please call either
Clarence Lusane Outreach
Coordinator or Lesli agan
Mobilization Coordinator at
the n tional office at 202)
547-0061.
Jennifer Davis'
Executive Director
American Committee on Afri a
Jerry Herman
Coordinator of Southern Africa
Program - Peace Education
Di ision - American Friend
Service Committee
Randall Robinson
Execu tive Director
Tran ri
,
Damu Smith
Executive Director
Washington Office on fri a
ichigrm Citizen wel­
comes the comments, opinions
and ob rvations of our readers.
Readers Write:
Star letter for Spring
Dear Editor:
A star letter for Spring!
-ow that mo of the bright
planets and the beautiful win­
ter constellations h .ve (or soon
will have) disappeared we'll have
to turn our attention to other
cele tial event. Probably the
mo t spectacular of all is the
annual meteor shower which the
Earth pa through the middle
of April. It is called the Per-
ids meteor 0 er becau it
takes place in the vicinity of
the constellation, Per u, which
is almost directly north and
little east. The be time to see
it i after midnight, April 12.
How did you feel hen you
heard or read bout the 1987 A
galaxy recently? What was your
reaction? Did you shrug your
shoulder and y, "So wh t",
and ju pa it off a any
piece of worId ne or did it
stir up me pent-up emotions
y down deep? I hope it at
le t m de you gasp with won­
der!
Think of it! Thirteen time
the size of the ilky Way
which is the galaxy we Earth
creature belong to! And what
else? we maya.
Be 'des being 'such an
enormous mass of rock du
and ga s each star ithin, is
billions of miles from each
other, and the motion of this
great m governed by
small galaxy much a our Earth
is influenced and kept on
balance by the moon.
The scientist who discovered
this super nova saw an explo
ion which too place 170,000
years ago, It ems incorn­
prehensivle to say the least;
and it should humble all of u .
Time and speace are everlasting,
So, I po the thought that
inste d of ying "So hat? ,
that has nothin to do with
me", why not � cognize the
mighty power back of it and
y "Thank you!" and be awe­
uck by it!
The psalmi t expre d thi
well when he, in referring to
the creation of the n and
moon and stars pondered on
the thought,' at is man that
Thou art mindful of him",
"It's a humiliating experience
to e something a e me"
reports a star gazer from
ustralia ho ha discovered
15 le r pernova like this
one called '19 7 -A". The
scientists are frantic over the
di covery which came first to
our attention in the arch 13th
issue of the Herald-Palladium.
It is worth reading more about.
If you are even a semi-amateur
astronomer you might find
another such occurance.
ouldn't that b thrilling?"
19 7-A is only visibl from the
uthern hemisphere. Ho ever
one could appear in the northern
hemisphere a ell. Do think
about it.
argaret H, Zo
hit comb To
St. Jo ph ichi